Celebrating 5 years of Ironman participation

Monthly Archives: June 2009

On Saturday, June 27th, I joined my crew from Wheelworks for the annual “No Sleep’till P’town” bike ride. This was the ninth annual ride from Boston, MA to Provincetown, MA. My teammate Jon led a great ride, and in his honor, I must re-post his great summary.

Bikes at the start: 11.5 (including our first recumbent)
Bikes that joined us halfway: 3

Miles on the trip odometer: 134
Flats: 0
Lost riders: 0
Suicide divebombing caterpillars on Plymouth’s Long Pond Road: 0
Drops of rain that touched us before we boarded the ferry: 0
First-timers: 10
Arrival time, in minutes, at the Sagamore Friendly’s before the infamous breakfast cutoff: 1.5

Round of beers at the Beachcomber: 1*

Delay in ferry boarding time, in minutes, because of a bogus boat fire investigation: 27

Organized rides to P’town taking place the same day as ours: 2
People who cheered for us as we rode by: 12
People who cheered for us who didn’t think we were the lead pack of the MS ride: 2
Matching Cape Cod sweatshirt/sweatpants combos purchased in P’town: 3

Awesome sunsets over Cape Cod Bay: 1

People on the Cape who were told by Woody from BTT that we were just kidding about riding on our bikes all the way from Boston: At least 6

I’m on my way to DC for the weekend to help out with the Dextro Energy ITU World Championship Series Race! If you haven’t heard of this race, you should check it out. This race will feature up to 130 pro athletes from all over the world. And, unlike any other triathlons, the pros can draft on the bike course.

To make a whole celebration of the event, there’s an age group race on Sunday morning and an expo on Saturday. We even have grandstands set up along Pennsylvania Ave to make it easy to watch the elite athletes loop around downtown DC at record speeds.

In no particular order, the new nicknames include: “You’re that girl!” “hey – you look great,” “wow, your face,” and simply “hey-wow!” It’s three weeks post-accident and many of my Wheelworks teammates and DC friends had not seen me since the crash when my face was an awful bloody mess. So, it was good to hear the positive responses. My favorite response was from the body marking volunteers at transition. One volunteer complimented me on CK, so I told her it was treat after landing in their local hospital three weeks ago (oh yeah, the race site was about 10 miles from Plymouth and Speare Memorial Hospital). She replies, “OH! You’re the girl that crashed in Franconia!” Either it’s a really small town up there, or there have not been many exciting accidents.

Pre-race transition area

The Race:

Amy and I headed down to the swim start around 7 am. It was fun to see Beck, Emily, Jen, Sunny, Matt, Alyson and some other WWMS folks on the beach. Amy and I were in the 5th wave – bright pink caps. The water at Newfound Lake was supposedly a crisp 60 degrees. I felt strong through the swim. It was only my second time swimming post-crash. But, by the time I exited the water, I was dizzy and my hands and feet were completely numb. What a treat to have wet suit strippers! If only they could have put my shoes and cycling gloves on for me too. I sat in transition for a while trying to get my hands to work. Gave up. Threw my gloves down, put my sunglasses in my mouth and rolled out. Swim total: 26:41

It took a few miles on the bike before I could feel my toes again. I was sporting my new WWMS tri top, which I quickly learned ejects anything put in the pockets. Who puts pockets on the side of a tri top anyway? They’re supposed to be on the back! So I was left with just one gu and one bottle of gatorade after only a mile into the 27.25 hilly ride. The ride was hilly, but no Black Bear. I stayed in my aero bars a fair amount and only got a little frightened on one down hill. CK was definitely a good choice to help me regain my confidence. Bike total: 1:35

The run started off a little odd – I couldn’t feel my right foot at all. Something has been up with my right leg since the crash. I decided to just keep hitting the foot against the pavement until it woke up – which it did by mile 2. There were two steep little hills in the run. I walked them, and felt really fresh to run, so I think it was a good choice. I saw Amy on the run and she was looking strong and full of energy. She’s such a rockstar for her first triathlon! Run: 55:36

Total for my first olympic race: 3:04

Overall, I felt good. I didn’t push it at all and just used this race to regain my confidence. I might have had a little too much left at the end of the race because I really wanted to go paddle on the lake. I’m really excited to train more now and see what I can do!

The rest of the weekend was fantastic! Here are a couple highlights:

Kimberly and I had ice cream while we waited in line for a table at the Big Catch on Saturday night.

Sunday morning, I sat on the porch of our cabin overlooking the lake and sipped a cup of coffee before heading down to cheer for the girls.

I lost my cellphone while trying to capture Kimberly, AJ, Julie and Angela on film crossing the finish line. The race crew found it – and the announcer called my Mom and Dad! I got the phone back, and reassured Mom and Dad that I was OK, not off to a hospital again!

All my DC girls had PR’s on the Half Ironman course! Woohoo! Can’t wait to cheer them on in Placid!

Oh, and if any of you are ever thinking about doing Mooseman, Timberman or any other race by Keith Jordan, you should definitely sign up. The race was extremely well run: great volunteers, great food (ice cream and maragaritas!), good signage and great t-shirts, hats, etc. I’ll be at Mooseman next year for sure.

I bought a new bike this weekend – the Scott Plasma 20! It’s a fantastic carbon frame with a mix of Shimano Ultegra and 105 components. I put my Easton EA 90 TT wheels on it. Went for a nice 35 mile ride this morning – and felt strong, confident and fast. And, my legs felt great on my run afterwards! Mooseman, Cranberry Trifest and IM Moo – here I come!

If you’re looking for a bike in the Boston area, I highly recommend Quad Multisport in Arlington. I knew I was in the right place when I found out that Marco and I grew up not only in the same town, but on the same street. And, one of the other customers in the shop is my current neighbor. Talk about good community and good vibes! In all seriousness though, Marco and Tom are knowledgeable, patient, honest and listen to your needs. I went to some other shops where they spent lots of time (and money) on the fit, but didn’t let you ride the bikes. I think I spent about 6 hours at Quad on Sat – test rode three bikes and couldn’t be happier with the one I chose.

Now, according to my pal Matt, the new bike needs a name. Any suggestions? “The comeback kid” comes to mind right now.